Watch Claudio’s first track preview of the year

One of our favourite things about the World Cup season are Claudio Caluori’s manic track previews. Every race, the Scott team manager and commentator straps a GoPro to himself and throws himself down the track so that we can get a good idea of what the racers will face.

The first round of this year’s World Cup is Lourdes and the track looks pretty brutal. it starts out in the open where the riders will negotiate steep, off camber rock sections, there are then two big road gaps before they are thrown into the woods for more steep gnar. The riders are spat out at the bottom of the track over a scaffolding bridge before flying under the finishing arch.

Watch highlights from the 2015 Lourdes World Cup

To make it even worse, this year it’s been raining, and is forecast to do so until the race on Sunday. Claudio said: “It’s the most slippery conditions I’ve ridden in almost 10 years! It’s so incredibly difficult… I was busy trying to stay on my bike. It was close calls from top to bottom!”

Wet tracks erode quicker so by the time two days of practice and qualifying are out of the way you can expect it to be an even rougher prospect for the riders come Sunday.

The Lourdes World Cup will be streamed live on Red Bull from 1:30 UK time.